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Friday, October 14, 2011

I didn’t want to finish…

Hey loves!!! It’s been a while since I posted but I had to catch you up on my latest endeavor.

As most of you know, I have been training for my first half marathon and it hasn’t been an easy task…between foot, hip, and pelvis pain; I didn’t know if I could actually do it.

Even though I had all these doubts, I still prepared for the big day and picked up all my running essentials….

The big day arrived on Sunday and I felt pretty good and optimistic! My friend and I headed into the city, to catch the ferry to Staten Island…we were participating in the NYRR Staten Island Half Marathon…

We arrived to the terminal and felt like sardines in a can…can you say Chaotic???

They were not really prepared for all these people so they had to send 2 extra ferries to accommodate all the runners...

After what seemed like forever, we finally boarded our ferry…

I loved seeing all these runners in one place!

Hey there pretty lady!!!!

We arrived at Staten Island 20 minutes after the race started and had to rush over the start mat before it was removed…

I was feeling good but something went horribly wrong in mile 3…I felt like someone was stabbing me in my knee. I was so scared of putting pressure on my left foot that I was over compensating with my right and ended up injuring myself. I tried to push through but the pain was so unbearable. Every time I tried to run, it only lasted a couple of minutes and had to start walking again. I was starting to feel discouraged and did everything I could to hold my tears back…I was way behind the pack and felt like a failure.

At mile 9, I had to jump out of the race and run into a store to get advil…but I jumped right back and kept on going. By mile 10, my camelbak completely ran out of water…did I forget to mention that it was abnormally warm that day? At mile 11, I turn to the guy next to me and joke “Sooooo how much are you hating Staten Island right now?” he joked back “I am never coming back here again!”…

As I was arriving to Mile 12, I wanted to quit but then I saw something that I was not expecting…my mom, sister, and homefries cheering for me…tears started to stream down my face not because I was in so much pain but because there they were…the backbone of who I am. I ran to my sister and started to cry and muttered “I am in so much pain…” she told me that she knew but I only had 1 more mile to go and I could do it..I waved bye and continued on…

I kept going and I could see the finish line and then I saw myself running right through it!

After I crossed the finished I broke down in tears and hobbled over to the medic tent, to get my knee wrapped and iced..

Ouch!!!

I then took a picture with homefries!!! Isn’t she getting soooooo freaking tall???

And just like that…I completed my first half marathon! (Official time: 2:53:14)

And guess what…I am ONE race away from qualifying for the 2012 Marathon!

9 comments:

I can't even imagine how hard that must have been to keep going with a hurt knee. While it would have been totally okay and understandable to stop, you finished it anyway! I am so happy for you and know that you will keep reaching those goals :)

Ya'll, I think that I caught the running bug again. This weekend I headed to Forest Park to support my friend who was doing her first 5K...

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I know how it is to be on the "other" side and just want to help others reach their health and fitness goals! I am a 500 Hour Yoga Teacher and began my personal practice over 13 years ago and have been sharing my love for yoga for 3 years. I believe Yoga should be all inclusive and every body is a yoga body. My classes are suitable for all ages and levels of experience. You don’t have to be flexible and “bendy”, just willing to learn and enjoy the journey on your mat.